Week 48

Happy tuesday everyone! Sorry I didn't get on yesterday - my companion had to do some visa work in prague. THIS WEEK: Miroslav is getting baptized!! He is way excited and so are we. Its been a crazy journey with Miroslav. He asked probably one of my favorite people to baptize him - Brother Holy. The Holyovi are such a solid family. So this week is looking kind of crazy - crazy and awesome. We've got a surprise zone conference on Thursday, Miroslavs baptism on Friday, then saying goodbye to our friend Bara after that, Saturday there will be a wedding and we will be recieving transfer calls, and then Sunday Miroslav will be confirmed and whoever is leaving will pack like crazy at night and head out on monday. Its going to be awesome! So thats where we are. And we got it worked out so sister D can come in for the baptism. Im also super interested in history of the czech republic and the history of the church here during communism, and one of the first members of the church lives here in Brno. So we scheduled to meet with him this week and he's going to tell us his story. I heard he's a talker - im so pumped. Today we did service at the cutest little old folks home - we go there every week - but since it may be my last time I was walking back and just going " i love that building, i love that bridge, i love that random stranger becuase she's a brnačka" my district was making fun of me for moping but if this is my last email from brno, just know that I am in love with this city and the people. There is so much history here and incredible people. Love you all, have a good week! 

S láskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 47

Hey everybody! 

We started this week out with some work in the Brno archives - we took pictures of old birth/death records which get sent to germany then to salt lake and then end up on family search. That was a cool experience - the Baty's work down there and are a hoot. They are so great. Big news of the week ... THIS GIRL WENT TO SLOVAKIA. I had an exchange over there and got to spend the day. I served with sister Eggers who was in the mtc at the same time as me - just a classroom over learning slovak instead of czech. also she's from hollister california and was in zions choir! haha small world. we didn't figure that out til a couple months ago. so we made the trek down there - we had a 5 minute connection in bratislava and our train from brno was late so we missed that. in bratislava (slovakia) we decided to go to the church building and plan for lessons, not even thinking about the fact that we dont have keys to get inside. so we get on the bus and the senior couple, the cottles, are hop on right before the doors shut and go what are you doing here? they took us to the building (which was air contitioned hallelujah). and the bus back to the train station i started talking to this guy about english because he had english on his shirt and the old lady next to him kept cutting him off and answering instead - she ends up falling us to the train and on the train, then tells us where to sit. we sit down and these other people come to sit next to us. in the end we are talking to 7 people around us the same time about the gospel.. it was awesome! and in slovak! they are close enough that it doesnt make a huge difference. they mostly just sound like someones pulling their tongue out of their mouth while theyre talking. one of the guys wants the missionaries to come to his house, the rest just took cards and brochures. anyways that was super fun - then we got into trenčin and i felt like i was in mexico. it was an awesome day. I love sister eggers shes a good one. at the end of the day we went and cooked dinner for the branch president, his wife, and his mom. They were so incredible. When i started speaking czech to him his eyes popped out of his head though. i guess czechs dont really find themselves in trenčin too often. I picked up a few words and i was a real slovak in the end :) then my comp sister schaerrer and sister eggers comp sister abbot came back via train and made us halušky - after the elders friend had made us fruit knedliky the day before.. thats some rich stuff. Then sister schaerrer and i came headed back to brno the next morning.. we may have grabbed the wrong train and ended up kind of close to the austrian border, but as far as we know we never left slovakia/czech republic. well that was kind of the event of the week. Love you all. Happy Anniversary Rachael and Aaron, and Happy Birthday to the tough little princess girl! 

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 46

Hello everybody!

About a month ago we went out to dinner with a senior couple in Prague after a conference, and they had previously served in France. They were telling us about a friend they had, an old lady, who had been meeting with the missionaries for years and years, but baptism was always a concern for her. One day, she asked the missionaries if she could recieve a blessing, and the missionaries weren't sure if they were allowed to without permission, so they told her no and never returned to it again. Then this senior couple became good friends with her a few years later, and the older lady told them that she had previously wanted a priesthood blessing. This elder (who is now working in the archives here in Brno) gave her a blessing, and it changed her! She was baptised and the gospel has blessed her life ever since. 

This week we were working with our friend miroslav who is so prepared, but after hearing this story my companion and I felt the impression to offer him a priesthood blessing. A member of the branch gave a beautiful blessing to this man, and it left an incredible feeling in his home. His baptism is in a few weeks and he feels so good! Its amazing what the gospel does to people. We have a funny relationship with Miroslav and his daughter Karolinka - we joke around a lot. He never really understood why its important to be baptized by someone with proper authority and this week we asked him who he wanted to baptize him. the conversation went like this : us - Will you think about who you want to baptize you? Miroslav - It's the same to me. Someone who has authority. then I put out my fist and he pounded it. It was a proud moment.

Also this week, all the youth got back from FSY (european EFY) - this week at fast and testimony meeting, they all ran up to the front as soon as they opened it up to everyone and gave incredible testimonies - speaking way beyond their years. One young man in particular - Last transfer he looked like he was getting dragged there every week and listened to music the whole time. This week sister Schaerrer and I got there to unlock the building, and he was standing there in a suit and tie to get the sacrament ready - like a new person! It was really cool to see what an impact it had on all of them. And then their parents started getting up and bearing their testimonies, and at the end, Gad Vojkuvka got up to bear his testimony. He was one of the few first members here in czech republic during communism. He expressed his confidence in the hands the church will be in the czech republic. It was a really powerful testimony meeting. 

In other news, there were two companionships of sisters in my mtc group. Me and sister fredrickson, and sister clark and sister birkeland. Sister Clark and Sister Birkeland are serving togther right now where I was BORN in good ol pardubice. Remember the chocolate shop lady? She dropped the sisters after I left - and they found her again! And she is preparing for baptism! I was so happy I almost cried. Her, her husband and her cute little boy who was always trying to explain to me mindcraft in czech when i had been in the country for like 2 months. 

Something else kind of cool, we started meeting with a really nice man who's wife is a priestess at one of the most famous cathedrals in brno. And his job is to open and close the doors everyday.. How cool is that?! 

Love you all-

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 45

Hello everyone!

This week we went up to Karlstejn- all the missionaries met at the prague train station and we went to the dedication site of the mission. 25 years ago the first missionaries stood there and I can't even imagine how they must have felt. They hardly new the language and there were only 8 of them. Our mission president wrote us this week about the history behind it. "July 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the formal return of missionaries to the Czech Slovak Mission. After forty years of communism, the Velvet Revolution of 1989 prepared the way for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be recognized again in February 1990. The first missionaries entered the country a few months later and the mission was formally reorganized in July of 1990 when my mission president and his wife, Richard and Barbara Winder, arrived in Prague." Something that is incredible to me is that a lot of the members here have lived through this time when the church was rerecognized and we hear incredible stories everywhere we go. There are pioneers here in czech republic - the people are inspiring and it's such a blessing to be a part of their lives. 

Have a wonderful week everyone! 

S laskou,

Sestra Holland

Week 44

Hello everyone!

A lot of the people we have been meeting with went on vacation this week so we have been outside a lot. Its a whopping 35 on average this week - And sudden thunderstorms every once in a while that do the trick. Miracle of the week.. I drove a Brno Tram!!! Not a lot of czech people can say they've done that! Other than that, we did some gardening this week for some old folks, did a lot of trakting, and talked to a LOT of people. Trakting was a little scary because people answer the door in their underwear when its hot. But when everyone you know is out of town you just take it to the streets. We also had dinner at our friends Adam and Eliska's. They are a young couple studying here in Brno. They are such great people, and she feeds us well!

Hezky týden!

Sestra Holland

Week 43

Ahoj všichni!

This week was a good one - I met an awesome guy from some place near Nigeria this week, and he is supposed to be king, but he ran away because he says "Jesus is my king!" .. i didn't believe him at first until he started showing me pictures of his dad with African royalty wear and him too. So that was pretty cool. We met a girl from Spain who reminded me of Ana Santos :) and Rachie of course. Also we started teaching some guy from Russia who was super cool but he dropped off of the face of the earth. A few from slovakia and one from belarus (i only know how to spell that in czech) I guess in the summer people just stop being czech!  

I haven't shared something funny in a while, so heres this weeks. My first friend I made in Brno (apart from my lovely terezka who i knew in ceske budejovice) is a recent convert to the church. Last transfer we asked him to teach with us and the guy turns out to be pretty granola.. just really crunchy and hard to talk to. Im not judging but it was hard on our little vojtech. So we were trying to make up for it this week and got a really good one for him to teach with us. He ends up being sick, so we go to do a singing display and he walks with us-- we run into a guy we talked to the day before and had a lesson set up with him that night. So we just say hey, your here, we're here.. lets have a lesson now. So I turn to vojtech after saying a few things and ask him to share his experience with baptism. Vojtech just starts pouring out his soul and this guy yells sorry! and literally RUNS away. Vojtech just through his hands in the air and said whatever and went to go see the arnold swartz movie to feel better. Poor guy can't catch a break. I was laughing so hard i was in tears though. 

And the singing display afterwards I had one of those "is this real life?" moments when I ended up singing solos on the square. Not something you'd normally find me doing, ze jo? Anyways life is good. I'm tired but trucking along. Missing the archibalds! 

Have a good week! Mám vás ráda,

Sestra Holland

Week 42

Hey Everyone! 

Sorry if last weeks email was sort of depressing. Sometimes I feel like I'm just sending everything that has acclimated in a weeks time into a void and Im not sure who is reading it or if anyone is! We are truckin along- its about 100 degrees here. Don't worry mom, I am drinking lots of water and trying not to pass out. 

It was our first week without the Archibalds, and we were so bumbed we went into their empty appartment and weekly planned on their floor.

We played squash again with our friend Alan this morning - He also made my last companion and I drawings of birds (mine was an eagle, sister daugirda got an owl) as well as homeade tshirts with his bird drawings, which are his specialty. So I have sported my bird shirt a few times. 

This morning my companion welted me in the back of the leg with one of those squash balls - she may not be very good but she can really put some pepper on it. 

Coolest thing that happened this week, on sunday, I was setting up the translating stuff in the back and I went out for  a minute to help one of the members and I girl walks in. I had never seen her before and I went up and shook her hand - she was shaking and really nervous. When I grabbed her hand she wouldn't let go! And when I looked at her i just saw panic in her eyes. I bagged the translating stuff (my poor companion had never done it before and had to figure it out) and sat down with her during church. I explained what was going to happen and told her to relax and just watch. Then afterwards I took her outside and asked her what was wrong- someone really close to her had passed away - she has been passing our building for years now and always felt like she should come inside, just never had the guts to do it. And she did it! She was so brave! We met with her again and she is so kind, and needs the gospel so much! What a miracle!

I love you all! Happy 4th - God Bless America!

S laskou,

Sestra Holland